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These Are Days
By mel

 

CHAPTER 20

The summer sun shone brightly on the narrow, two-lane road that wound through sand dunes and scrub brush, and Alex smiled as she spotted the stacked stone mailbox that sat at the end of her brother's driveway. Thankfully, their bachelorette weekend was going to be a small affair with just the Cousins and a few select friends in attendance. Namely Abbie, Serena, and Elliot – who wasn't going to be arriving until the next morning because his son had a soccer game that he had promised he'd go to. Fin and Munch were covering the 1-6 for the weekend, and there wasn't anybody else either of them particularly cared to invite.

The steeped pitch of the roof of Adam's house came into view and Alex sighed. "You ready for this, Liv?"

"Hell no," Olivia chuckled, shaking her head. It was impossible for anyone to really be ready for a weekend of partying planned by Abbie Carmichael. She whistled softly as she looked at the classic Nantucket styled beach house with dark gray shingle siding, stunning white trim, black shutters, and a bright blue front door. "Anyways, how did she talk your brother into letting her do this at his house?"

Alex nodded understandingly as she eased the car into a space between Bryan's white Escalade and a dark blue Ford Escape with rental tags on it that she figured belonged to Jill and Lindsay. She also recognized the other four cars lined up on the small lawn that was serving as a parking lot that weekend and knew that they were the last of the Cousins to arrive. "Please… you've seen the two of them together. He probably offered to let her do it here."

"Yeah, you're probably right about that one," Olivia said, nodding as she climbed out of the car. She groaned as she arched her back and stretched and she smiled as Alex's appreciative wolf-whistle cut through the air. She lifted her arms above her head to stretch out her shoulders and turned to face her fiancée who standing at the trunk of the car and grinning at her. "Can I help you?"

Sparkling blue eyes took their time tracing every inch of Olivia's lean body and Alex licked her lips slowly as she nodded. "Yeah. I think you just might be able to."

Chuckling softly under her breath, Olivia shook her head and walked over to take the blonde into her arms. "Does the lady have any requests?" she murmured as she leaned in to kiss Alex but teasingly pulled away at the last second, leaving the blonde wide-eyed with indignation.

"Yes, the lady does," Alex growled, smirking at Olivia as she grabbed her by the shirtfront and claimed her lips in a sloppy, smiling, openmouthed kiss.

Always more than willing to reciprocate Alex's advances, Olivia wrapped her arms around the blonde's waist and lifted her up onto the trunk of the car. "I like this," Olivia husked, grinning as she stood between Alex's legs. She ran her hands up and down the attorney's thighs, her fingertips dipping under the hem of the blonde's shorts. She slid her hands higher and smiled against Alex's lips as her fingers brushed against the edge of the blonde's panties.

"Mmm, me too," Alex purred, rolling her hips wantonly against Olivia's hands. They'd been working so much lately that they'd barely been able to see each other, let alone spend any sort of quality alone time together in bed, and just the feeling of Olivia's strong, slightly callused fingers against her upper thighs had her instantly wet and aching for the brunette's touch. "God, Liv."

Of course, just when she felt Olivia's fingers begin to pull her panties away from her, a loud, laughing voice interrupted them. "NOT IN MY FUCKING DRIVEWAY, YOU TWO!"

Olivia groaned and headbutted Alex's shoulder. "Goddamn twatswat. Can't he just take a video or something and leave us alone? I want to touch you," she whined. "It's been too long…"

"Way too long," Alex agreed softly, smiling at her fiancée as she regretfully pulled the brunette's hands from inside her shorts. "And no… he can't take a video. Cabot Rules of Combat number 31." She sniggered. "Any and all recording devices are banned from celebratory bachelor/bachelorette weekends due to the fact that Bryan almost didn't get married after Jake showed Mandy a video of him on stage at a strip club dancing with the women."

"I…" Olivia's voice trailed off for a moment as she tried to picture the scene Alex had just described. Bryan was usually so dorky and reserved that the thought of him doing something like that was absolutely mind-boggling. "I have to say… just… damn. How did you get him up there?"

"Four bottles of white wine. It was actually pretty awesome; he totally rocked those tassels one of the dancers gave him. I think Adam still has the video somewhere – if he doesn't, I'm sure Abbie does."

"Carmichael was there?"

"Of course," Alex replied, pecking the brunette on the lips as she slid off the trunk of the car. "Who do you think was up there dancing with him?"

Olivia's eyes grew wide. "I wanna see that video…"

"What video?" Adam asked as he approached the couple to help them with their bags.

"Bryan dancing at his bachelor party," Alex explained as she popped the trunk and reached for her bag.

But before she could grab the handle of her suitcase, Adam slapped her hand out of the way with a smile. "I'll email it to you and you guys can watch it at home later. I don't want to get in trouble with Mandy for bringing that up again. Now, shoo. I got the bags. Everybody's out back already. Be forewarned, Carmichael thought of fucking everything. Nobody is going to be sober for the next thirty-six hours."

"Oh god," Olivia groaned. She looked at Adam and frowned. "Do you know why Abbie told us to bring old jeans, sneakers, and long sleeved shirts?"

"I do… and I'm not telling you," Adam replied with a wink. "Your job this weekend is to sit back, enjoy, drink like a fish, and let Abbie control everything."

"Yeah… it's the last part of that that I'm having problems with," Olivia muttered.

Alex chuckled and nodded as she slipped her hand into the brunette's and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Me too, Liv."

The main hallway of the house led straight from the front door through to the back, which opened to a large covered deck that overlooked the bay, and Alex smiled as she saw everybody hanging out and having what looked to be like a very good time either sunbathing, playing cornhole, or bocce ball. Everybody had a drink in their hand or within arms' reach, and the music pouring from the outdoor speakers set the perfect summertime mood. It seemed very relaxed and laid-back, and that was exactly what she and Olivia needed after their hectic work schedules lately.

"This is perfect," Olivia murmured appreciatively.

Jill was the first to notice the couple as they stood on the deck taking everything in, and the wiry blonde grinned and threw a hand up in the air in greeting as she yelled, "'Bout damn time you two made it!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Alex muttered. She looked over at Olivia as she kicked off her shoes. "I'm going in. You coming?"

"Do I have to?" Olivia teased.

"You do," Alex confirmed with a nod. "Now, let's go get our hellos out of the way real fast so we can go upstairs, change into our suits, and join the fun for real. I need a drink."

"Your wish, my command," Abbie drawled as she walked out onto the porch behind the pair. "Drink up, Cabot," she commanded as she handed the ADA a shot of tequila. She handed Olivia a shot glass as well. "You too, Benson."

"Really?" Alex asked, rolling her eyes as she slammed the shot and handed the empty glass back to Carmichael. "We're starting with the tequila now?"

Abbie grinned and nodded. "I have everybody's poison. Tequila, gin, rum, enough vodka to fill one of those plastic wading pools…" Her voice trailed off as her brow furrowed thoughtfully. "Hmm, that's an idea… Anyways, then I have a case of white wine for that pussy cousin of yours, plus plenty of beer to go around. We are all going to be completely shit-faced until tomorrow night. So, yes, we're starting now. Olivia… you can thank me later."

"I will," Olivia assured her with a grin. She turned back to look at the Cousins gathered in the yard and waved a hand at the tents that were spaced out across the sand that was just on the other side of the lawn. "What's with the tents?"

"We're camping," Abbie explained. "Adam's house, while amazing, isn't big enough to sleep almost twenty people comfortably. And, rather than draw straws to see who sleeps outside, we're all sleeping outside. You'll still have an indoor potty and shower, so I don't want to hear any whining."

Alex rolled her eyes. While sleeping in a tent wasn't her favorite activity in the world, if everybody else was going to be doing it, she figured she could manage it as well. Besides, if the weekend was going to be the drunk-fest that Abbie was planning, she knew that when the time came to go to bed that she wouldn't care where she slept. Passed out. Whatever. "Nobody's whining, Carmichael."

"Excellent." Abbie clapped her hands excitedly as she continued to explain her plan. "Now, because we all understand that there will be copious amounts of drinking happening, which will undoubtedly lead to insane amounts of fornicating, we placed the tents at twenty-yard intervals. So… as long as nobody's a screamer, you'll have plenty of privacy for personal moments. You two are the tent at the end of the line down there." She pointed to the tent that was on the far left of the line of tents and grinned at Alex. "Because your general dislike of camping isn't exactly a secret, we decided to give you two the tent that was closest to the house. And, if you'll look closely, you'll see your darling brother emerging from the spacious 6-person tent that is more than large enough for plenty of nekkid rolling around."

"Did you guys buy all these tents?" Olivia asked.

"Nope. Begged, borrowed, and rented," Abbie explained. "Most of 'em are two-person jobs, but we decided to give y'all the de-lux model since this is your bachelorette weekend and all."

"How considerate," Alex muttered.

"Can the sarcasm, Cabot," Abbie retorted. She turned back to the 'bar' that was set up on an old console table that had been moved outside, and poured the blonde another shot of tequila. "Drink this, and then go get changed. We can't do a beach party if you're in street clothes."

"So that's the plan for the weekend then?" Olivia asked curiously. Abbie had been surprisingly mum about her plans, only giving them a vague 'to pack' list and telling them when to show up.

"It is for today," Abbie answered with a grin and a wave. "You'll find out about my genius plan for tomorrow in the morning. Now, take your fiancée and go. I wanna see bikinis on those bods in twenty or else I'll change you my own damn self; and you know I will," she added threateningly.

Alex didn't doubt Abbie for a moment, but she still rolled her eyes at the Texan as she reached for Olivia's hand. "You wouldn't dare."

"Try me," Abbie drawled, taking a playful step forward.

"In your dreams, Carmichael," Alex retorted as she turned to Olivia. "Liv, ready?"

"When you are, Counselor," Olivia murmured. She smiled at Alex and leaned in to kiss her softly. "Come on, babe. Let's just go change and then we can come up and say hi to everybody."

Alex looked out at everybody on the lawn and nodded. "Yeah. We can do that," she agreed, allowing Olivia to lead her down the stairs and across the lawn toward their designated tent.

Hellos were yelled to those they passed along with quick explanations that they were just going to go change, and once they reached the sand at the edge of the yard, Alex slowed her walk to a meandering stroll. The tent they'd been given was the largest of the lot, with a tall, domed roof that would give them plenty of room to stand and walk around. It was a bright, vivid red with navy blue accents, and she thought that, as far as tents went, that it looked pretty nice.

She let go of Olivia's hand to open the zippered mesh door that was designed to let air in and keep bugs out, and she smiled as she noticed that there was a large air mattress in the middle of the tent that was topped with two sleeping bags that had been opened and zipped back together. "Okay, so this isn't too bad," she admitted as she stepped inside.

"Not at all," Olivia agreed as she stepped into the tent and looked around. She noticed that they couldn't even hear everybody who was up at the house and she grinned as she turned and closed the main flap of the tent as well. If they couldn't hear the cousins, that meant that the cousins couldn't hear them either. And it had still been too long since she'd last touched her fiancée.

She stalked across the tent to where Alex was standing and smiled as she wrapped her arms around the blonde from behind. Alex relaxed into her embrace and she hummed softly as she lowered her mouth to the blonde's throat. "I want you," she murmured. She ran her hands up Alex's stomach to palm her breasts, flicking her thumbs over the blonde's nipples that grew harder with each swipe of her thumb over them, and groaned when she felt Alex's ass rock back into her. "Alex…"

Alex smiled and covered Olivia's hands with her own so that the brunette's fingers dug harder into her beasts. After a few squeezes, she took Olivia's hands and pulled them down to the hem of her shirt. She licked her lips as the brunette wasted no time helping her out of the garment and she chuckled softly as her bra was quickly discarded as well.

A low groan rumbled in her throat as Olivia's hands once again found their way to her breasts, rolling and kneading the mounds as the brunette began rocking against her ass. It had been at least two weeks since they'd last had sex, and she was painfully aware of that fact as she felt her panties flood. "Touch me," she whispered, as she reached back to lace her fingers together behind Olivia's neck.

Olivia moaned and pinched Alex's nipples, tweaking the buds roughly before she slid her hands down the flat plane of the blonde's stomach to unbutton her shorts. She groaned at the way Alex's hands flexed on the back of her neck as she pushed the blonde's remaining clothes down to the ground, loving the way Alex was keeping herself open and allowing her to touch her however she wanted, and she nipped at her throat as she eased one hand between the blonde's legs.

"Mmm, yes," Alex purred as she felt Olivia's fingers trace through her folds before they settled on her clit, rubbing light circles over the bundle of nerves. She arched forward, thrusting her ass back into Olivia as she rolled her hips in time with the fingers against her, her body straining to find that rhythm that would send her flying. Two weeks was entirely too long to go without Olivia's touch and she groaned as she felt the brunette's free hand settle back on her breast, squeezing and rolling her nipple with the most delicious amount of pressure. "Oh god."

"Does this feel good?" Olivia husked as she sped her fingers by a fraction and thrust against the blonde's ass.

Alex nodded, biting her lip to keep from screaming as Olivia's fingers pressed harder against her.

"It feels good to me, too," Olivia murmured, her lips brushing across Alex's neck as she continued to pepper it with licks, nips, and kisses. "I've missed touching you like this." She smiled as Alex groaned and the blonde's hands on the back of her neck tightened. "I've missed watching the way your body moves when I touch you." She dropped her hand lower and thrust two fingers inside Alex, making the blonde gasp. She began stroking her slowly, keeping her fingers curled so that she was brushing over sensitive ridges with every push and pull of her fingers.

"Fuck… Liv," Alex whimpered.

Olivia smiled, pushed herself as deep into Alex as she could, and ground the heel of her hand into the blonde's clit. "Good?"

"So good," Alex breathed, sliding her right foot out to the side to give Olivia more room to touch her. "God baby… please…" She groaned as Olivia started thrust again, this time faster and harder than before. "Mmm… yes… just like that, Liv." The heat that had been steadily building low in her hips from the moment she'd first felt Olivia's mouth against her neck began to spread slowly outward, down into her trembling thighs and up into her stomach, and she groaned as she turned her head toward Olivia, blindly searching for the brunette's lips as she felt her orgasm begin to crest.

Olivia groaned as the hands at the back of her neck pulled her in closer. She kissed Alex hard, thrusting her tongue into the warm cavern of the blonde's mouth as she fucked her harder and faster, driving herself as deep into her as she could. Strong walls fluttering around her fingers told her that Alex was close, and she gave up on trying to go as deep as she could and instead focused on speed – pistoning her fingers as fast as she could into the blonde. She wrapped her left hand around Alex's breast and gave it a firm squeeze as she felt Alex's orgasm start to break over her.

Alex cried out with her release, the sound effectively muffled by Olivia's eager mouth, and she sagged into the brunette as her body trembled with her climax. Their kisses gentled, as did Olivia's touch, and she sighed happily as her body relaxed. "God, I've missed that," she murmured dopily.

"Me too," Olivia assured her, stilling her hand inside the blonde so that she was cupping her gently. She gazed adoringly into Alex's heavy-lidded eyes and smiled. "I love you."

"Love you more."

"That just isn't possible," Olivia murmured, chuckling as she kissed the blonde softly. She nipped at Alex's lower lip as she slowly withdrew her fingers from their warm sheath, and a low, rumbling groan reverberated in her throat as she felt Alex's hand close around her wrist and pull her hand up to the blonde's lips.

An eager, agile tongue swept over and around Olivia's fingers before Alex sucked them into her mouth, and the brunette groaned at the sensation. It had been a long two weeks for her as well, and getting Alex off had nearly done it for her as well. "Please, Alex," she murmured, pulling her fingers out of the blonde's mouth. "I need you."

Alex's lips quirked up in a grin as the blonde leaned in to kiss Olivia quickly before dropping to her knees in front of the brunette and burying her face between her legs, nipping playfully at the cotton shorts that were blocking her from her intended target. "These need to come off," she said as she reached for the button holding Olivia's shorts on her hips. She helped the brunette out of her shorts and underwear and groaned at the glistening patch of curls that waited for her. "God I've missed this," she whispered, extending her tongue to lick as far between Olivia's legs as she could reach.

"I'm not going to be able to stand while you do that," Olivia warned, even as her hips bucked toward the blonde's mouth.

Knowing that Olivia was right, Alex sighed and pulled back far enough to look up into her lover's smoldering eyes. "You're right," she said, as she wrapped her hands around Olivia's hips and turned them so that she was able to guide her backwards toward the bed. She grinned as she watched Olivia land on top of the sleeping bags and she wasted no time lowering her mouth to kiss the brunette's inner thigh. "Take off your shirt," she murmured as she wrapped her hands around Olivia's knees and pulled the brunette's legs open wider in front of her.

Olivia's eyes rolled back in her head at the feeling of Alex's tongue skating up her inner thigh and she groaned as she quickly shucked her shirt and bra so that she was lying naked on the bed. "Better?"

"Much," Alex assured her as she began running her fingers up and down Olivia's sides, reaching higher and higher as she kissed her way up to the sweet juncture of the brunette's thighs. She wrapped her hands around the luscious mounds and squeezed as she ran her tongue through Olivia's folds and she groaned at the strangled moan that escaped the brunette when she wrapped her lips around the straining bundle at her apex and sucked against it.

To Olivia's great relief, Alex was in no mood to tease and it wasn't long before two fingers found their way deep inside her with strong, heavy thrusts as the blonde's tongue flicked quickly back and forth over her clit, sending tiny bolts of electricity shooting through her. She tangled her hands in Alex's hair, holding the blonde to her as her hips rolled frantically against the attorney's mouth. "Just like that, Alex," she murmured encouragingly. "God… so close… please, baby… make me come…" Her pleas trailed off into a low, keening moan as her climax rocked through her and she bit her lip to try and silence herself, knowing that anybody heard them that they wouldn't hear the end of it for the entire weekend.

Alex smiled and guided Olivia through her release, and once the muscles around her fingers eased, she pulled out and moved higher to claim the brunette's lips in a deep, languid kiss, letting Olivia taste herself on her tongue.

"You're amazing," Olivia husked, licking her lips as she stared up into Alex's eyes.

"Yeah," Alex agreed, grinning. "But so are you. That's why were' so perfect together."

"And modest to boot," Olivia muttered, ticking the blonde's sides and laughing as Alex squirmed.

Still laughing, Alex slid down Olivia's body enough to rest her head on the plane of the brunette's chest. She yawned as she snuggled closer to her, and she hummed softly as she felt Olivia's arms wrap around her waist. They'd woken up at dawn to make the drive up, and a little rest after her first orgasm in weeks was sounding absolutely divine.

"No time for napping," Olivia said, tickling Alex's sides lightly. "We need to get back up to the party or else Abbie's gonna come looking for us."

Alex groaned and nodded. "You're right. Later?"

Olivia chuckled and pressed a soft kiss to the blonde's forehead. "Sweetie, with the amount of tequila Carmichael is going to try and serve you, I can guarantee it." She slapped at the Alex's ass playfully. "Now… up and at 'em, Cabot. We got some celebrating to do."

 

CHAPTER 21

The sound of laughing and yelling greeting Olivia and Alex as they finally emerged from their tent in their bathing suits, and Olivia grinned as she spotted what the ruckus was about. Everybody was down at the other end of the beach in the middle of what looked to be a giant game of Ultimate Frisbee. "Your family rocks."

"They're your family too," Alex replied, laughing. "You're marrying into this crazy bunch. Remember?"

"Like I could ever forget," Olivia said, her smile softening as she turned to look at Alex. "You wanna go play?"

While Alex thought that she'd much rather disappear with Olivia back into their tent for some more quality alone time, she knew that if they didn't make an appearance soon that somebody would come looking for them and there was just no way for that to end well. So, she held her hand out for the brunette and nodded. "Sure."

They made their way across the beach to the game and the sounds of the Cousins' taunts and jeers grew louder as they approached the playing field. Abbie and Adam were standing toe to toe and screaming at each other as they drew close, arguing about whether or not he had been over the line when he'd caught the Frisbee, and Alex let loose a loud whistle to break them up and get everyone's attention.

"Cheater," Abbie growled, shoving Adam.

"Jesus, Abbie!" Adam yelled, pushing her back. "That fucking hurt!"

"Oh my god, they're like a couple of preschoolers going at it," Olivia muttered.

"Now that's just not fair to preschoolers," Alex whispered. "Most of them are way better behaved than that."

Paul shook his head and tugged Adam away from Abbie. "Hey you two. Glad you finally made it out to join us."

"Yeah, nice hickey," Jill observed, smirking as she pointed at Alex's neck.

"Thanks," Alex replied breezily. "So, Ultimate?"

"Yeah, you guys want in?" Adam asked.

Olivia nodded. "You bet!"

"What are the teams?" Alex asked.

"Cousins versus the spouses, of course," Jake answered.

Alex frowned. "We'd be outnumbered."

"Well… yeah," John said with a shrug. "But we're like, totally kicking their asses right now so we can spot them the couple extra people."

Olivia laughed and clapped her hands. While she would have preferred to play on the same team as Alex, the idea of going up against Adam and the triplets was too good to pass up. She turned to Alex and arched a brow. "Babe?"

Alex rolled her eyes and nodded. Like she would ever pass up on a challenge like this. Besides, if it meant that she got to maybe kick a little sand in Abbie's general direction… all the better, so far as she was concerned. "If you think you guys can handle it."

Abbie whooped excitedly and skipped off to the other side of the field to get ready to play, completely forgetting about her earlier gripe with Adam. "Benson, you wonderful athletic bitch, you. Get out here! I don't wanna lose the bet!"

"There's a bet?" Olivia asked, and then shook her head when she realized what she'd said. Of course there would be a bet in place on the game with Abbie and the rest of the Cabots involved. "Never mind. What is the bet?"

"Losers are the servants for the day." Jill answered, giving Lindsay a challenging smirk that the investigator replied to with a laugh and stiff middle finger. "Getting drinks, making and cleaning up dinner, all that fun stuff."

"I can work with that," Olivia drawled.

"You wish," Alex murmured, grinning at her fiancée. She turned to Adam and asked, "Cabot rules?"

"Of course," Adam replied, laughing.

"What are Cabot rules?" Olivia asked hesitantly. Somehow she knew that whatever the Cousins had done to bastardize the rules of Ultimate Frisbee was going to make the game much less tame than it usually was.

"If your team gets scored on, you have to do a shot," Bryan explained, pointing to the row of bottles and glasses that were set out on a towel off the side of the field.

"Okay…" Olivia murmured. That didn't sound so bad. Eventually everybody would get so drunk that nobody could complete a pass and possession would just continue to switch from one side to the other until somebody gave up and called it quits.

"Picks are legal. And if the Frisbee is on the ground, it's a free ball, so to speak," Alex said.

Adam nodded. "Yeah. That whole, 'it hit the ground so give it to the other guys' rule is bullshit. If you want it, go get it. Once you have possession, the other team has to back off."

"So you're getting drunk and getting into scrums over a Frisbee," Olivia summarized.

"Pretty much," Jill said, laughing. "Fun, eh?"

"Sounds like a perfect Cabot afternoon to me," Olivia replied with a smile.

Jake grinned and nodded his agreement. "I know, right? So, let's go. It's our ball because you guys have numbers."

Alex grinned. "Right. What's the score?"

"We'll start over," Paul said. It was the diplomatic answer to be sure, but he also liked his team's chances a little bit better with Olivia on his side and he didn't want to be restarting the game down the four points they were already losing to the Cousins.

"Perfect," Olivia drawled, dropping a quick kiss to Alex's lips before she jogged out onto the 'field' that was marked by four little orange cones. "Game on!"

Abbie cracked her knuckles playfully and added, "You guys are going down!"

Everybody took their positions on the field as Adam spun the Frisbee around in his hands, looking for the perfect pass to start things off.

"You guys ready?" Adam hollered once it looked like the other team was set.

"Bring it, Cabot!" Paul taunted with a grin.

Adam grinned and flung the Frisbee to Bryan, who tossed it over to Jake, and Alex watched with a gleeful smile as Jill made a perfect run behind Serena on the back line to make a jumping catch for the score.

"That's one, Carmichael," Adam taunted as he jogged over to the blanket where the alcohol was stationed to pour the other team their penalty shots.

"Yeah, yeah," Abbie grumbled, tossing back her drink and setting the glass back down on the blanket. "Dare you to do it again."

"Shore thang, sugah," Adam retorted, grinning.

Abbie rolled her eyes and shook her head. "That was the worst accent I've ever heard, Yankee."

Adam laughed. "Fuck you very much, Abs. You guys ready to go out there and get embarrassed again?"

"Oh, shut up, Cabot," Abbie said, snatching the Frisbee out of his hand and stalking off to her side of the field to start the game again.

Abbie's first pass was to Olivia, who turned and flipped it to Lindsay who was making an overlapping run down the left flank. Paul was making a nice cut down the middle of the field and she tried to get the Frisbee to him, but Bryn popped up out of nowhere and intercepted it. The game went on like this for what seemed like forever, with possession going back and forth with nobody scoring, until Olivia hit Michael (Bryn's husband) with a long pass that got them almost past the Cousins' defense. Paul made a run down the middle but Adam was right on him, not letting him get open to receive a pass, but Abbie streaked down the right side of the field and Michael was able to sail it over Andy's head to her.

"Booyah!" Carmichael yelled, spiking the Frisbee. "Take that!"

"Shit," Alex hissed, shaking her head as she watched Abbie high-fiving Olivia and Lindsay in the end zone.

"Cousins, get your asses over to that blanket and drink!" Abbie yelled as she abandoned her celebrations to make sure the Cousins' glasses were filled to the brim.

"Lucky fucking pass," Adam grumbled as he took the shot Abbie poured him.

The rest of the Cousins took their glasses as well and slammed their drinks with a level of grim determination that made them look like they were going off to do actual battle rather than playing a game. They lined up, with Bryan in possession of the Frisbee, and waited for the spouses to take their places. Once everybody was set, Bryan flicked the Frisbee over to Jake and the game started up again.

The game continued on in an increasingly competitive manner and, before long, everybody was pretty well smashed and there were far more scrums for the Frisbee than catches. Smack talk was flying so fast and furious that it was hard to tell who was insulting who, and there were more than a few instances of bathing suits being "accidentally" pulled off as everybody fought for the Frisbee. Surprisingly enough, especially considering the amount of tequila in her system, Alex was not one of the people who had ripped a suit off of an opposing player. She did, however, manage to sneak in a few good grabs as she boxed out against Olivia in an attempt to keep the detective's team from scoring; but even those small instances of horny fun were stopped once Abbie tossed a scoring pass to Mandy directly over her head because she'd been too preoccupied fondling Olivia's breasts.

That shot of tequila didn't go down nearly as smooth, as it was sharp and bitter with the taste of embarrassing defeat.

Really, with the way they were drinking and throwing themselves around after the stupid Frisbee, it was only a matter of time before somebody got hurt and Bryan had the dubious honor of being the first when Abbie's elbow connected with his eye while they were jumping to try and catch an errant throw. He tried to play through the injury, but his eye was watering so badly that he couldn't see and he ended up getting hit in the face by a rogue pass that made his other eye start watering too as blood poured from his nose.

"Dude, duck!" Adam yelled at him.

"I can't see the fucking Frisbee!" Bryan hollered back.

"Just go sit down, B," Mandy yelled as she ran for a towel to help catch the blood pouring from her husband's nose.

Alex groaned and helped Bryan over to the sideline. She dug around in the cooler as Mandy handed him a towel for his bloody nose, and rolled her eyes as she twisted the top off an ice cold bottle of beer. She handed him the bottle and said, "Use this as an ice pack and just sit tight. We got this."

The game resumed with each team down by a player because Mandy was sitting with Bryan to make sure that he was okay, and the Cousins took advantage of the more open field by getting crafty with their play. They set picks at every opportunity, most of them catching the other side unaware so that the opposing player was knocked to the ground, and ran screen passes around the spouses. They were still outgunned, but they were quick and had years of playing together as a foundation, and they managed to not only even the score but also pull ahead by one.

Adam and Alex heckled Abbie and Olivia as they knocked back their penalty shots, and when Abbie turned to glare at them they laughed and exchanged high-fives before jogging back to get into position to play defense.

Points were exchanged again as game play got more and more sloppy, and Alex groaned as she staggered back out onto the field. She had been hopeful that the exercise and the sun would make her not feel the alcohol so acutely, but that wasn't looking to be the case. The teams took their positions and Alex spun the Frisbee in her hand as she surveyed the field. Abbie was marking Adam and Paul was on Jake, so she tossed it quickly to Jill and then made an overlapping run past her up the middle, calling and waving for the Frisbee back.

Jill feinted a throw toward Bryn and then turned and threw it ahead to Alex, who leapt into the air for a surprisingly agile catch. The ADA whooped as she caught it and as her feet hit the sand she turned to look for somebody to pass to, and that was when Serena crashed into her and took them both to the ground.

"What was that?" Alex asked, laughing as she rolled away from Serena. Her smile faded as she saw her friend holding her ankle and wincing. "You okay?"

"Just rolled it," Serena confirmed. "Sorry. I tried to stop in time but…"

"Don't worry about it," Alex assured her. She waved at Paul and John, who were closest, and said, "Help her off?"

With the injury count now at two, the game continued on, albeit a little less intensely. Points were traded back and forth and even the injured players were forced to down their penalty shots, and the longer the match continued, the more injuries decimated the rosters.

After an hour and a half of playing, the only people left standing were Adam, Alex, Jill, and Jake for the Cousins and Olivia, Abbie, Lindsay, and Paul for the opposing side. Adam sighed as he and his cousins took their penalty shots after Paul zipped a wicked pass about twenty yards to Olivia for a point, and looked over at everybody who was out. So far, they'd gotten lucky and nobody was seriously injured, though Bryan's eye was already beginning to purple, and he knew that with what Abbie had planned for the next day that they really couldn't afford to take any major injuries.

He looked over at Paul and offered, "Next point wins?"

Paul shrugged and looked to the rest of his team, who all nodded their agreement, before he answered, "You're on."

Competitiveness overrode the majority of their intoxication and the game became surprisingly fluid, with passes connecting more often than not, and the scrums for the dropped discs were decidedly more vicious as both sides fought to for the win. Alex emerged from one such battle against Abbie with a long, angry scratch down her back and her bikini top hanging limply from her neck because Abbie had untied the string in the middle of her back, though she also came up with the Frisbee, and Olivia was so distracted by the sight of her fiancée's near nakedness that she missed the predatory smirk that tweaked the blonde's lips before she flicked the Frisbee past Olivia to Adam who was standing in the end zone to catch it.

"We win!" Jill yelled, throwing her hands up in the air victoriously. The rest of the Cousins cheered and ran out onto the field to celebrate, whooping, hollering, and falling over as the alcohol they'd consumed made it difficult for them to run on the loose sand.

"Fuck," Olivia and Abbie muttered, dropping their heads in defeat as they watched Alex and Adam lead the Cabots in a ridiculous line-dance type celebration that she wished she could get a video of. Nobody back in the DA's Office would ever believe that cool, calm, and collected ADA Cabot could cut loose and shake her ass the way she was right then. She watched Alex laugh and exchange high-fives with her brother, and she felt a surge of affection for the blonde roll through her as she realized that she was one of the lucky few who ever got to see her this carefree and happy.

"We lost. Knock that lovesick look off your face, Benson," Abbie grumbled as she smacked Olivia on the back. "Damn it, I really didn't want to have to do dinner tonight."

"What's the plan for dinner?"

Abbie shrugged. "Adam wanted to do a clambake."

"That's not too bad," Olivia pointed out, knowing that Alex loved the traditional New England summertime meal.

"Nah, I know," Abbie said, "I just really wanted to sit back and relax and rest up for tomorrow."

"What's tomorrow?"

Abbie grinned and shook her head. "Nice try, Liv. But you're not going to find out until we get there."

The cones, towels, and alcohol were all picked up and they made their way back up the lawn toward the house to recover from the game. They were all hungry, tired, sore, and more than a little tipsy, and though all were too proud to admit it, they were all looking forward to a little downtime. As per the bet, the losers got drinks for their spouses, and Adam and Paul brought plates of sandwiches out from the kitchen for a late lunch, along with bowls of chips, popcorn, and pretzels.

Once the food was polished off, making everybody feel a little less drunk, they retired to their selected lounge chairs for a little sunbathing and napping to try and work some more of the alcohol out of their systems before the real drinking began with dinner.

Paul was the first to notice that the afternoon was passing them by and he groaned as he sat up and tossed his empty beer can at Abbie, who was laying on her stomach and taking a nap. "Up and at 'em, Carmichael," he ordered as he forced himself to his feet. "We gotta get digging if we're going to eat tonight."

"We can grill it all," Abbie mumbled. "I don't wanna dig a fucking hole in the sand to cook dinner."

"Aww, poor baby," Adam laughed. "Come on, I'll even help. I need to get moving again or I'm going to fall asleep."

Alex looked up at her brother and grinned. "Clambake?"

"Of course," Adam drawled, smiling. He knew Alex loved them and so, while he let Abbie plan everything else, he had insisted on doing this for dinner their first night.

Mandy sighed and looked at Jake and John's wives, Michelle and Kim, and said, "Come on, you two. Let's go put the food packets together and into the baskets so we can relax some more."

"There's the spirit!" Jill teased.

"Boxer, make her stop," Abbie grumbled as she sat up and glared at the Deputy District Attorney.

Jill stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry at Abbie. Then she screamed, because she hadn't seen Lindsay sneak up behind her with a bottle of water straight out of the cooler that the Investigator poured on her head. "I know you didn't just do that," she growled, turning to glare at her girlfriend.

"Of course I didn't," Lindsay replied with a smirk. "I would never do something like that."

"You are so dead," Jill muttered.

"Bring it, blondie," Boxer taunted.

Jill looked ready to rise to the bait, but then she just grinned and shook her head. "You're lucky you're so goddamn sexy. Go make me dinner. I'm hungry."

"Where are the shovels?" Olivia asked as she set her half-empty beer can down under her chair and got to her feet.

"You're not cooking, Benson," Abbie grumbled as she brushed her hands off on her towel and pulled on a pair of shorts. "It's your fucking bachelorette party. I'm not that big of a bitch to make you do it."

While she appreciated the sentiment, Olivia shook her head. She hated being waited on by anybody – Alex included – and after spending the last few hours dozing in the sun, she was feeling anxious to get moving again. Sitting still wasn't something she was particularly adept at. "I can help."

"Or you can stay here and help your future wife put some more sunscreen on before she turns as red as these lobsters we're gonna be cookin'."

Alex grinned and nodded happily. "I like that idea." She had actually applied plenty of sunscreen earlier and knew that because she'd taken refuge under an umbrella for most of the afternoon that she wouldn't be burned later, but she was more than happy to spend as much time relaxing with Olivia as possible. While she enjoyed staying busy, unlike her fiancée, she had no problem lounging about and doing nothing when the situation allowed it.

"Of course you do," Abbie replied with a dramatic eye-roll. "You two are to stay right here and keep your hands on the outside of each other's clothes. Now, everybody else, let's get rolling. These lobsters and shit ain't gonna cook themselves, people!"

As it turned out, winners and losers of the Frisbee game didn't matter because everybody chipped in to help. The guys all wandered down to the beach to start digging and getting the coals hot enough to cook over, Abbie and Jill went with them to get the charcoal going in the starter chimney so that once the whole was ready to go they'd be able to get things ready to go, and the rest of the women headed into the kitchen to start placing the food into cheesecloth packages to cook.

"I feel like a bit of an ass just sitting here watching them make dinner," Olivia said as she squeezed some sunscreen onto her palm and began rubbing it onto Alex's back.

"Me too," Alex murmured, groaning as Olivia's fingers dug into a knot on her lower back. She hummed approvingly as the brunette's touch lingered in the area, rubbing out the knot, and sighed as she felt it melt away. "On the bright side, though, at least Abbie's preoccupied with something else so that she's not continuously shoving drinks into our hands."

Olivia nodded her agreement. "Yeah. How are you doing with that, Ms. Grabby Hands?"

Alex chuckled. "Fine. You still have your clothes on, don't you?" She groaned as Olivia's hands dropped to the backs of her legs and the brunette's fingers dipped under her bikini bottoms. "And you call me grabby."

"This isn't grabbing," Olivia pointed out as she dragged her fingers over the soft skin of the blonde's backside. "This is stroking," she said, smiling at the way Alex's hips lifted into her hands. "And I think you like it."

"You know I like it," Alex murmured.

"I do," Olivia whispered, palming the firm globes and giving them a rough squeeze.

"Yeah, well, I'd like to see less of it," Serena called out laughingly as she limped up to the couple. She had a basket of food in each hand and she grinned at the embarrassed brides-to-be as she stopped beside them. "Come on, you two. Bonfire on the beach as we wait for dinner to do its thing."

 

CHAPTER 22

"Earth to Cabot," Abbie sing-songed, laughing drunkenly as she tried to get the ADA's attention away from Olivia's breasts that the blonde was busy fondling. "Alex!"

"What?!" Alex yelled, glaring over her shoulder at the Texan.

"Truth. Or. Dare," Abbie drawled, her southern twang even more pronounced because of her acute level of inebriation, "what's it gonna be?"

Dinner had been finished and cleaned up a couple hours ago and the group now sat around the bonfire wearing warm-ups, sweats, flannel, and whatever else they'd brought to keep warm after the sun went down. When everybody had returned to the bonfire after changing (which took longer than strictly necessary for every couple assembled), Abbie and her equally sophomoric sidekick Adam managed to somehow talk the Cousins and company into playing truth or dare.

Things only went downhill from there.

Nobody wanted to be the first to wuss-out and go for a truth, so it basically became a game of dares. And, because everybody was trying to out-do each other in coming up with new dares, it didn't take long before the dares – which started out easy enough: take a shot of whatever drink, chug a beer, whatever - started getting crazier and crazier.

The first distinctly creative dare had been when Adam dared Abbie to give him a piggyback ride around the entire group singing Hi-Yo Silver (the theme song from the Lone Ranger). She, of course, knew all the words to the song and seemed to bask in the laughter she got from the group for her rendition of it.

Serena then sent Adam into the ocean to act out the final scene from Titanic. He had to be Rose, and he had to do it in a dress that Andy laughingly offered up for him to use. He was an excellent Rose. So good, in fact, that Paul took on the role of Jack and ran into the ocean to crawl up onto the floaty mattress thing that was simulating the chunk of wood Rose laid on until she was rescued, singing at the top of his lungs, "My heart will go on and ooooooon! Now, move over you selfish bitch – there's more than enough room for the both of us!"

They got a standing ovation.

Bryn dared Jill to juggle empty beer bottles while she recited Shel Silverstein's Boa Constrictor poem (it had been Jill's "talent" in the third-grade talent show when they were kids and the blonde still knew the poem by heart) – which went surprisingly well until one hit her in the face. At that point, she gave up reciting the poem and began cussing like a sailor instead.

Jake dared Olivia to wrestle-mania wrestle Paul, who, surprisingly enough, agreed to do it. She won with an impressive flying clothesline that left the Englishman flat-backed on the sand and groaning.

John dared Jake to shove a handful of ice into the front of his boxer briefs and leave it there until it all melted.

Jill dared John to put on his wife's bikini and perform the I'm Sexy and I Know It song. After that, the cross-dressing dares kind of went by the wayside because women's bikini bottoms were not designed to hold in man-parts and nobody wanted to see anything like that again.

And now it was Alex's turn.

"Dare," the ADA declared boldly, smirking at the Texan as she started bouncing Olivia's breasts in her hands like they were water balloons.

This is too easy, Abbie thought as she looked at the blonde. "Do a body shot off of Olivia's boob."

The cousins all laughed as Olivia rolled her eyes and Alex giddily hopped off of her detective's lap to fetch the necessary supplies. She squinted hard at the confusing mix of empty and nearly empty bottles that were set in the sand by the bonfire, trying to find the bottle of Patron Silver she knew had to be somewhere in the mix. She whooped excitedly when she found it, and she picked up the bottle – that had maybe a shot and a half left in it – with her left hand as she snagged the penis-shaped saltshaker that was sitting in the sand beside it with her right.

She frowned at the penis in her hand and looked up at Olivia. "We need a set of shakers like this that are boobies. That would be awesome."

"That would be awesome, and now I know what I'm getting you for your wedding," Abbie drawled, waving her hand in a circular motion in front of her to try and get Alex to hurry up. "Now, go lick Benson's tit, slap some salt on it, and then suck that puppy clean."

Alex rolled her eyes at Abbie's impatience and grabbed a slice of lime out of a Solo cup that was sitting on top of the cooler before she made her way over to where Olivia was sitting. She straddled the brunette's lap, basically resuming her earlier position before Abbie's dare had forced her to get up to get the salt and tequila, and smiled at her fiancée. "Hey."

"Hey drunkey," Olivia chuckled, grinning as she reached up to tuck the blonde's hair behind her ears. "Are you sure you're okay to do another shot?"

Instead of answering, Alex winked at Olivia and began opening the buttons on the brunette's flannel until she was able to pull down the edge of the brunette's bikini top so that more olive-toned skin was available to her. "Fucking gorgeous," she muttered as she leaned in and lovingly licked at the mound, wetting more than enough skin than was necessary to do a body-shot. She hummed softly under her breath as she sat up – the tune sounded remarkably like Whistle While You Work – and sprinkled a light dusting of salt over Olivia's breast. "Perfect," she declared triumphantly as she tossed the ceramic penis over her shoulder.

"You'll break it!" Adam screamed as he dove after it, and he sighed with relief as he caught it just before it could hit the ground.

"We're sitting on the fucking beach, you moron," Abbie muttered, rolling her eyes. "Like it really would have broken on the sand."

"I like my penis," Adam retorted.

"I do too," Paul assured him with a smile as he took the saltshaker from Adam's hands and set it back down by the alcohol bottles by the fire.

"Gross," Abbie muttered.

"Well, damn. Go get it, Cabot!" Serena cheered, clapping wildly as Alex grabbed both of Olivia's breasts and leaned in to lick the salt off of the brunette.

Olivia's eyes fluttered shut as Alex's thumbs flicked over her nipples, and she was so distracted by that touch that she had barely registered the feeling of the blonde's tongue against her skin again before it was gone and Alex was chugging whatever alcohol was left in the bottle she had selected. The blonde then tossed the now empty bottle aside carelessly and grinned as she bit into the lime wedge she was still holding, sucking down hard and extracting all the juice possible from it before she tossed it, too, aside and leaned into capture Olivia's lips with her own.

Abbie let loose a wolf whistle as she watched Olivia grab Alex's ass as their kiss quickly became borderline indecent, and she literally fell out of her chair laughing when the detective picked the ADA up and started stumbling down the beach toward their tent.

"You know, I think they have the right idea," Serena drawled, arching a brow at the Texan as she held a hand out to help her up. "We shall see you all tomorrow."

"What are you, fucking Shakespeare?" Jill laughed.

"Shut up," Abbie retorted, defending her girl's honor.

Boxer grinned and reached out to teasingly squeeze Jill's thigh. "You don't think that's a good idea?"

Jill smirked and shook her head. "Oh, no. I think it's a fucking awesome idea. See you losers tomorrow!" she yelled as she jumped out of her chair and took off running for her tent, with Lindsay hot on her heels.

Everybody else laughingly followed suit, and before long the fire was left to burn itself out as the Cousins and company opted to pursue more private avenues of entertainment.

Down at the far end of the line of tents, Olivia was stumbling through the loose sand, the alcohol in her system and the feeling of Alex grinding against her stomach making it difficult to walk. She groaned as the blonde's lips attached to her neck and she looked down the line of tents, trying to figure out exactly how much further they had to go. She saw that they had only perhaps twenty more yards to go and she grunted in surprise as something sharp dug into the ball of her foot.

Alex, who had only been holding onto Olivia's neck with one hand while she toyed with the brunette's right breast with her other, screamed as Olivia's grip loosened, causing her to slip out of the detective's grasp to fall to the ground.

"Fuck, Alex, I'm sorry," Olivia apologized as she fell to her knees beside the blonde who was wincing in pain. "Are you okay?" she asked, as she reached down to pull the piece of shell that had caused her to drop Alex from her foot.

"I think so," Alex murmured, biting her lip as she rolled onto her hip to run her right hand over her ass cheek that was throbbing. The feeling of pain pulsing through her body helped clear her head and, while she was nowhere near sober, she was also much more lucid than she'd been even two minutes ago. She groaned softly as her fingers came into contact with something wet and said, "No, I'm not. I'm bleeding."

"I'm so sorry," Olivia murmured, leaning in close to try and see what was wrong. The moonlight was bright, but not enough to give her a real idea of what was wrong. "Let's go into the house so I can look at it."

This time, when they started walking, it was side by side with Alex hanging onto Olivia's arm. The recessed lights in the kitchen were shockingly bright when Olivia turned them on, and the brunette squinted for a moment until her eyes adjusted. "Lemme have a look, babe," she said as she moved behind Alex to inspect the blonde's injury. The ADA's heather gray yoga pants were cut and stained dark crimson, and she felt her heart swoop up into her chest at the sight. "Oh, sweetie," she murmured as she pulled the waistband of Alex's pants and bikini bottoms down so she could properly inspect the actual cut.

"How bad is it?" Alex asked.

Olivia hummed noncommittally as she surveyed the shallow gash and asked, "Where does your brother keep his first aid kit?"

Alex twisted around to have a look at her ass and groaned. "Aww, crap. Yeah. There's one in every bathroom."

Olivia nodded and, remembering the nickel tour she'd been given earlier, ran through their options. The master bedroom was on the main floor, but she felt weird using Adam's private space without his permission, and from the way blood was now beginning to trickle down Alex's thigh, she wasn't sure that the powder room near the living room was going to be enough in this instance. She just hoped the blonde wasn't going to end up to need stitches. "Can you make it upstairs to the guest bedroom? We're going to need to get you cleaned up so I can see how deep this cut is."

Once they were upstairs, they turned into the nearest guestroom and made their way into the bathroom.

"Can you take those off?" Olivia asked, eyeing Alex's bloodied pants as she dug around in the cabinet beside the shower for a clean washrag.

Alex was tempted to make a quip about how she was just drunk and bleeding, not an invalid, but she knew that Olivia was just looking out for her. So, she bit back the sarcastic response and simply nodded as she carefully worked her pants and bikini bottoms down over her ass, being careful to not touch her wounded cheek, and let them fall to the floor. "Done," she announced as she unceremoniously kicked them aside.

"Good," Olivia murmured, glancing at Alex's injury as she wet the washcloth she'd found under the tap. Once it was soaked through and the wrung out, she took a step away from the sink and said, "Just… lean up against the vanity."

Though she didn't think she would need it, Alex did as Olivia suggested and leant forward to rest her hands on the cool marble top of the vanity. Her heart swooped up into her throat as, in the mirror, she watched Olivia kneel behind her. Injured or not, the sight of Olivia kneeling behind her made her stomach flutter and she smiled as she turned to look over her shoulder at the brunette. She bit her cheek as she watched Olivia begin to carefully clean the wound, but a quiet hiss still escaped her as the washcloth tugged at the edge of the cut.

"Okay," Olivia murmured, after she'd gotten the area directly around the cut clean. It was still oozing blood, but it was much less serious than she'd initially thought. "I don't think you'll need stitches. Where's the first aid kit?"

"Under the sink," Alex said, gesturing.

Olivia nodded and pressed a tender kiss to the uninjured side of the blonde's backside as she leaned forward to retrieve the surprisingly large red plastic kit from under the sink. "He doesn't mess around," she muttered as she set it down beside herself and began digging through it.

"Please, you've seen the shit this family gets up to," Alex replied, chuckling as she looked down to watch Olivia dig through the first aid kit.

"You have a point there," Olivia replied, smiling as she saw what she needed. The cut wasn't deep enough to require the butterfly sutures she found inside the kit, so she just pulled out a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, a sterilized package of gauze, a tube of Neosporin, and a giant band-aid. "Okay, I just have to get you cleaned up, and then we'll be done."

The feeling of Olivia tenderly wiping every last trace of blood from her skin with the warm, soft washcloth was incredibly soothing and Alex hummed quietly as she leaned further into the vanity, offering herself up to the brunette's touch. The stinging of the hydrogen peroxide being swept over the cut, however, had her jumping upright as she turned to glare at Olivia who was smirking and leaning forward to blow across her skin, trying to dry the disinfectant faster. "God, you're lucky you look so good back there," Alex muttered as she turned back to the vanity.

"Almost done, beautiful," Olivia murmured, smiling as she untwisted the top of the Neosporin and squeezed some onto the cut. She then ripped open the band-aid and laid it tenderly over the wound and, once it was in place, she pressed a gentle kiss to it. "How's that?"

Alex looked over her shoulder at Olivia, who was still kneeling behind her, and then to her now bandaged backside, and grinned. "Another kiss would make it feel a hell of a lot better."

"Is that so?" Olivia replied, chuckling as she lifted herself up onto her knees and ran her palms over the sweet swell of the blonde's ass, caressing the globes teasingly as she stared up at her fiancée. A lopsided smirk tweaked her lips as she leaned in to nuzzle the blonde's uninjured cheek, and she hummed softly under her breath as she pressed a slow, wet kiss to it.

The feeling of Olivia's tongue flicking across her skin made Alex moan, and she closed her eyes as the brunette's mouth moved ever so slightly to kiss her again, and again, and again, covering each cheek with affection as the detective whispered reverently, "God, do I love your ass, baby."

Strong hands sliding around the front of her thighs, holding her still as Olivia sucked hard on her uninjured cheek, made her squirm as a wave of arousal settled between her legs. She whimpered as Olivia stood behind her, the brunette's hands on the front of her thighs squeezing and kneading softly as she rocked into her from behind, and Alex licked her lips as she pushed herself back into Olivia. Blue eyes met brown in the mirror and Alex felt her nipples tighten at the hungry look the brunette was giving her. "Please, Liv," Alex murmured, pushing herself back against the brunette's hips.

Olivia swallowed thickly and nodded as she stepped back just far enough to yank off her clothes and toss them aside. "Your turn," she husked, smiling as she began lifting Alex's Henley up off over the blonde's head. The ADA's skimpy bikini top was next, and a low moan rumbled in Olivia's throat as she ran her hands over the blonde's body. "So fucking sexy," she whispered, holding Alex's gaze captive in the mirror as she deliberately plucked at the blonde's already peaked nipples.

"Jesus," Alex muttered, her hips bucking back hard into Olivia.

A slow smile tweaked Olivia's lips as she ran her hands down the attorney's body, unable to deny that there was something potently arousing about watching Alex wait breathlessly for her next touch. She stared hard into stormy blue eyes as she reached her right hand down between the blonde's legs spread her with her index and ring fingers, and she licked her lips slowly as she brushed the pad of her middle finger over Alex's clit, coaxing a tremulous moan from the blonde's lips at the touch. She repeated the touch again and again, loving the way Alex's abdominals twitched with each brush of her finger over the sensitive nub, and she wasn't even aware of the fact that she'd begun to rhythmically thrust her hips forward against the blonde's ass as she touched her until Alex began to grind shamelessly back against her. "God, Alex," she muttered.

The tequila-fueled fire of need from earlier sparked into a raging inferno in an instant and Alex moaned loudly as she reached down and moved Olivia's hand exactly where she wanted her. It didn't matter to her that the brunette had taken her in pretty much this exact same position when they'd first arrived – all she wanted was to feel Olivia inside her, stroking her hard and deep until she came.

Gentle loving could happen later. Would, without a doubt, happen later. But right now…

"Fuck yes," Alex groaned, her eyes rolling back into her head as Olivia slid three fingers inside her. And then, after two quick strokes, those wonderful, magical fingers disappeared and she whimpered as she turned to look at the brunette, needing to see her, not her reflection. "Liv?"

Olivia leaned in and kissed the blonde's pouty lips softly. "I love you," she murmured, smiling as she slid her left hand around the blonde's hip so that she was able to thrust into her from behind.

"Oh, Liv," Alex moaned, leaning forward to rest her forearms on the vanity as she rocked back against Olivia's hand. The brunette's right hand, fingers still slick with her arousal, slid up over her clit, rubbing firm circles against the bud, and her head tipped back as she felt Olivia's hips join in the thrusting, pounding into her harder.

An easy smile tweaked Olivia's lips as she watched Alex respond to her touch. The blonde's normally pale skin was flushed a delicate pink, her breasts bouncing hypnotically with each collision of their bodies. Blue eyes, as dark as the sea at midnight, stared at her in the mirror, silently encouraging her to fuck harder, faster.

So she did.

The bathroom quickly became filled with the sounds of Alex's pleasure – soft gasps, trembling moans, quiet grunts, and what seemed like an endless litany of words, both pleading and profane, as the blonde selfishly sought her euphoric release. And Olivia was certain that she had never seen or heard anything as beautiful as Alex was in that moment. Every time she touched Alex like this and got to witness her letting go and falling apart around her felt like the first time.

And, even as she pounded almost savagely into the blonde, she couldn't help but offer up a silent prayer that she would always feel that way.

When Alex came, she came hard, strong inner muscles clenching around Olivia's fingers so tightly that the brunette couldn't move them until the first crush of her orgasm eased to settle into a series of rippling wave that the brunette worked her through tenderly, lovingly, with gentle strokes and soft kisses to the backs of her shoulders. Dusky blue eyes landed on smoldering mahogany in the mirror and Alex smiled a lazy, sated smile at her future wife.

"Hi," Olivia said, smiling softly at Alex as she pulled out and wrapped her arms around the blonde's waist.

Alex laughed. "Hi yourself, Benson."

"How are you feeling?" Olivia asked, her gaze turning serious as she pulled back to look at the blonde's bandaged backside. There was a distinct patch of red seeping through the band-aid, and she silently berated herself for hurting Alex again.

"Fine," Alex said, knowing from the tightening of Olivia's eyes that she was still bleeding. She turned in the brunette's loose embrace and smiled reassuringly at her as she leaned in and kissed Olivia, immediately thrusting her tongue deep into her mouth and engaging the brunette's in a slow dance.

"Alex, you're bleeding," Olivia said when she finally pulled away.

"I'll live," Alex assured her as she began walking the brunette back into the bedroom. "Now, why don't you get onto that bed so I can return the favor?"

"You're hurt," Olivia argued weakly.

"I'm horny," Alex retorted, grinning. "And you, you beautiful woman you, are exactly what I need."

It wasn't until several hours later that they collapsed, sweated, sated, and completely spent, limbs entangled as they cuddled together beneath the sheets, their breaths falling in gentle waves as they finally fell asleep.

 

CHAPTER 23

When Elliot walked through Adam's front door the next day around eleven o'clock, he expected to find everybody in various stages of hung-over. From Olivia's stories of the Cabots, he knew that they loved to party, and with Abbie added into the mix… yeah. He was just hoping that nobody had alcohol poisoning.

What he found, however, was anything but what he was expecting.

Instead of the house being silent as a tomb (and as dark as one, too), all the drapes and blinds were wide open and there was music playing at a decent level filtering through the house. He dropped his duffel in the living room as he passed by, and made his way down the hall toward the kitchen where he could hear the sounds of food being prepared. Voices became more distinct the closer he got to the back of the house, and he grinned as he recognized two of them.

"We did not 'sneak off to the house' last night," Alex was arguing defiantly.

"Yeah, Alex got hurt and we needed a first aid kit," Olivia added.

Elliot walked into the kitchen just in time to see Abbie throw a doughnut at Olivia and say, "Yeah, right. You two just wanted to get your freak on in a big ol' bed."

Wanting to break up the fight before it really got going, Elliot cleared his throat and said, "Hey, guys."

"Ellie-Bell!" Abbie crowed, turning to grin at him and completely forgetting that she was in the middle of pestering Alex. "You made it!"

"Well, yeah," Elliot said, smiling. "Like I would ever miss Liv's big send-off." He turned his attention to Alex. "You got hurt?"

"Just a scratch." Alex rolled her eyes. "Not a big deal."

"Yet it was enough of a big deal that you two spent the night in my guestroom, instead of out on the beach with everybody else," Adam said, laughing as he walked into the kitchen from the deck. "Hey Elliot."

Elliot smiled and tipped his head in greeting. "Hi."

"So, sis, where is this oh-so-mysterious owie, anyways?" Adam pressed.

"Wouldn't you rather know why it is that Abbie has a bag of frozen peas strapped to her inner thigh?" Alex argued, getting back to her original question that prompted the Texan's offensive. "I mean… seriously. What's up with that?"

"She has a point, Abs," Adam said, turning to Abbie. "That is wicked intriguing. I mean, our tent was right next to yours so I know you and Serena got back there okay last night." He smirked as Abbie glared at him. "You're a bit of a screamer, aren't you? What happened?"

"Not usually," Abbie argued. "She was just… never mind. And, I'm not telling you."

"Go get Serena," Alex told her brother. "She'll fill us in."

"No! I don't want her to feel guilty about this," Abbie said, huffing dramatically as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Fine. We were… well… you know…"

"Fucking?" Adam guessed.

"Yeah," Abbie muttered, rolling her eyes. "Anyways, let's just say that I'm apparently not as limber as I used to be because I think I may have pulled a muscle."

"You pulled a muscle having sex?" Adam repeated disbelievingly. And then he grinned and held a hand out to give Abbie a high five. "Excellent job there, Ms. Carmichael."

Abbie laughed and shook her head as she slapped his hand. "Yeah. Whatever. It looks like I wasn't the only one who got hurt doing it last night though," she said, trying to deflect the attention on her to Alex and Olivia.

"I got hurt before we had sex," Alex told her with a triumphant smirk that clearly said, So there.

"Gee thanks, babe," Olivia drawled. "El, you want some coffee? I know you've been up for a while, but things here are just getting going."

"Fuck that shit. What he needs is a beer," Abbie said, eagerly grabbing onto any topic of conversation that didn't revolve around her sex injury.

"Coffee would be great, thanks," Elliot said.

"You will be getting hammered with us later, Stabler," Abbie warned him. She shot a glance at Alex and added, "And I need to know where this mysterious scratch is."

"Fine," Alex groaned, rolling her eyes because she knew that Abbie wasn't going to let the matter drop until she found out. "It's on my ass, okay? I got a cut on my ass."

Abbie let out a bark of laughter and clapped her hands gleefully. "Did Benson kiss it all better?"

"As a matter of fact, she did," Alex told her. "And it was amazing. Three hours of amazing, to be exact. Now, can we stop talking about injuries?"

"Oooh, not yet," Adam chortled. "Not that it's a real injury like your two, but Jill is rocking the HUGEST fucking hickey I have ever seen!"

"Oh my god, do you all turn into sex-crazed monkeys when you drink?" Elliot asked Alex.

"Pretty much," the ADA confirmed with a nod.

"Anyways," Adam said loudly, "Abs, you going to be okay for later? Our reservation is at what, three?"

"Yeah. The bus will be here to pick us up at one," Abbie said.

Olivia handed a cup of coffee to Elliot and asked, "Are you guys going to tell us where we're going yet?"

"Nope," Abbie replied, popping the P sound loudly. She smirked at the way Olivia turned to Elliot, no doubt preparing to press him for answers. "And he doesn't know either, so leave him alone."

"Damn," Olivia muttered.

"She did tell me to bring a cup, though," Elliot offered, looking mildly apprehensive about that particular wardrobe instruction.

"You know what? I don't even want to know," Alex drawled, shaking her head. Abbie's plans, while generally immature and reckless, rarely ended up with anyone getting seriously hurt, so she figured that this was one of those times where it was better to just go with the flow and take things as they came. She picked up her coffee cup with her right hand and a chocolate croissant with her left. "I'm going back outside by Jill and Lindsay."

"Me too," Olivia said, grabbing two Boston Cream doughnuts and her coffee. "El, you coming?"

Elliot grabbed three doughnuts and his coffee and nodded. "Right behind ya, Liv."


Five hours later, the Cousins and company were sneaking through the woods wearing padded vests, gloves, helmets, and goggles as they carried their lookalike assault rifles at the ready to take down anyone who crossed their path.

They were playing paintball.

To make things interesting, teams had been assigned by family with Abbie and Serena on the B-Team (Bryan, Bryn, and their significant others) because the A-Team (Alex, Adam, Andy, and company) and the J-Team (the triplets and their partners) were up numbers. Elliot was also loaned to the B-Team because the other two teams had cops on them already. Bryn wasn't the best shot anyways, so he basically made the teams even. And, because the Cabots can't do anything even vaguely competitive without making a wager on it, everybody had thrown twenty bucks into a pot that the winning team would split.

There was no official for the match, everybody would be calling their own "kills" into little radio headsets that every member of their group was wearing.

A little more than thirty minutes into the match found things already getting interesting as each squad was down at least one man. The A-Team had lost Andy; the B-Team had lost Bryn and Serena; and the J-Team was down Kim, Jill, and Jake.

The southeastern area of the playing field had been assigned to Alex for the match, and she was painstakingly tracking Abbie – who she briefly caught sight of a few minutes ago. The playing field was a wooded section of land with bunkers hidden every so often in random locations, as well as strategically placed tree stands that one could use to take out opponents from above.

At the moment, Alex stood behind a paint-splattered red oak tree, cradling her gun to her chest as she listened for any sound of her target. She knew she was close to Abbie, but the Texan had stopped moving and she suspected that it was because she had been spotted. For as much as it killed her to admit it, Abbie was extremely good at this game.

A twig on Alex's six snapped and the blonde stiffened, her grip tightening on her gun as she slowly turned to look to see who had made the noise, fully expecting it to be Abbie.

It wasn't.

She grinned as she spied Lindsay creeping by, her head on a continuous swivel as she made her way slowly through the woods. Unwilling to let this opportunity pass her by, Alex crept slowly out from behind her cover and lifted her gun to her shoulder, leveling her sight on the middle of Lindsay's back that was covered by the inspector's padded vest. Just as she began to pull her trigger, a paintball hit her squarely on her wounded ass cheek, directly on her band-aid, sending a shooting pain rocketing through her as her cut from the night before was no-doubt torn open again by the impact.

While she'd been distracted by Lindsay, Abbie had snuck up behind her.

"FUCKING HELL!" she screamed as she looked down at the bright yellow spot on the back pocket of her jeans. "Goddamn it, Carmichael! Out of all the places you could shoot me, you had to shoot me in the fucking ass?!"

"ALEX IS OUT!" Abbie yelled into her radio, announcing the ADA's demise in the game as she gave her a little finger wave. "Liv'll kiss it all better for you later, sweet cheeks!" she yelled, before she scampered merrily with only the slightest visible limp off into the woods so that Lindsay couldn't get her. Ice and more than the recommended dosage of Aleve meant that the muscle strain she'd been feeling earlier in the day wasn't bothering her nearly as much as it had been.

Alex shook her head and lifted her gun up over her head (the universally accepted sign that she was out of the game) as she trudged through the underbrush to the centralized bunker that the group had agreed would serve as the assembling location for everybody who was knocked out of the game.

The woods around her became a firestorm of activity with people running by at full speed as she neared the bunker, and she groaned as she climbed over the three-foot tall wall of sandbags. She smiled wryly at the other players who had been knocked out as she gingerly sat down and said, "So… any bets on who wins this thing?"

"Lindsay," Jill said, grinning.

"You're just saying that because she's your woman," Jake muttered. "I'm going to say Olivia or Elliot."

"Adam won last time we did this," Bryn pointed out.

"ADAM'S OUT!" Elliot called into the radio.

"But not this time, apparently," Bryn chuckled.

"Huey and Dewey, Louie is on his way in," Abbie announced over the radio.

"Well, there goes John, then," Jill said, shaking her head.

Olivia's voice came over the radio next. "Boxer is down for the count. TKO, Benson," she announced chuckling.

Alex chuckled in spite of herself as she shook her head and rolled her eyes at her fiancée's quip. "That was bad, Liv."

The game continued on for another twenty minutes with everybody except Olivia, Paul, Elliot, Abbie, and Lindsay getting knocked out of the competition, and everybody assembled in the bunker was busy placing bets on who would be the next person knocked out.

"The Redcoat is down," Abbie announced. "Go have a cuppa and get out of my motherfuckin' house, bitch!"

"Fuck," Adam muttered. He looked up at Alex and added, "Looks like it's up to your girl, sis."

"She's got this," Alex assured him, even though she was mildly concerned that the B-Team still had Abbie and Elliot out on the field. Lindsay and Olivia were good, but if Abbie and Elliot started working together, they would be done-for.

A few minutes later, an echoing scream tore through the woods and, as the group in the bunker popped up to try and see what was going on, Lindsay's voice came over the radio. "GAME OFF! GAME OFF! Jill, go get the guy at the front to call for an ambulance. The rest of you, get out here now. We're in the northwest corner by the tree stand."

Alex's heart swept up into her throat at the professionally distant tone in Lindsay's voice and she wasted no time vaulting over the side of the bunker and taking off in the direction Boxer had instructed. Adam ran with her stride for stride and Jake wasn't far behind, and she was thankful for their presence as she tried to both run as fast as she could and try and figure out what had happened.

"Dear lord, just please let all their bones still be inside their bodies," she muttered as she wove her way through a particularly thick copse of trees.

A few minutes later, they arrived on scene, as it were, breathing hard and actively scanning the area for Olivia, Abbie, and Elliot. Alex's heart was in her throat as she hurried to Lindsay's side. The inspector's hands and jeans were muddied, and it was obvious that she had just crawled back up to wait for them. "Where are they?"

Lindsay waved a hand at the small gully that she was standing beside. "They're down there. Elliot landed on his arm weird and dislocated his shoulder. Olivia sprained her ankle pretty bad, and Abbie has what looks like a broken wrist."

"How in the hell…?" Adam murmured.

"I was sitting in the tree stand up there-" she waved a hand over her shoulder "-waiting for Elliot to walk into my line when Abbie jumped out of a tree and started shooting at him from a range of about twenty yards. It was like a bad outtake from Platoon or something. Anyways, Elliot was quick and jumped into the ditch to try and get away from her because she hadn't hit him yet, slipped on a rock, and landed hard on his shoulder. It's definitely dislocated. Olivia heard the scuffle and came running, shooting at Abbie – she's a really good shot, by the way," she told Alex, "hit her five times, center mass. Abbie slipped on the edge of the ravine and fell in. She's the one who screamed. Olivia leapt in after her to try and check on both Abbie and Elliot's injuries but rolled her ankle on her landing."

Alex shook her head and started for the edge of the ravine. Leave it to her family and friends to end up getting seriously injured playing paintball. "A month before our goddamn wedding. Perfect. I'm going down there," she said.

"Go easy on them, sis," Andy said, smiling. "Wait until they get their injuries fixed before you lay into them."

The ADA grinned over her shoulder at her sister. "Yeah, yeah, yeah," she muttered as she slipped over the edge of the ravine and made her way slowly down the steep, muddy, rock-littered slope.

"Damn. Jill won," Jake muttered as he walked off after Alex to assess the injuries. He was an attending physician at Boston General so, while his specialty was cardiology, he was technically the most qualified to help on-scene out of the Cousins.

"Fucking hell," Adam groaned. "I had plans for that money."

"Do I want to know?" Lindsay asked.

"We were betting on the outcome," Bryan explained.

Boxer shook her head. "Yeah. Should have known that one."


In what turned out to be a fortuitous turn of events, all things considered, Jake managed to talk the EMTs that came out to the paintball range into taking Abbie and Elliot to Boston General where he was able to get them rushed through the ER much more quickly than they might have otherwise been. It also didn't hurt that he had called his friend who was an orthopedic attending at the hospital when they were on the way in so that she was there and waiting for them when they arrived.

Doctor Christina Sims was a petite woman, standing at just over five feet, with wild red hair and bright green eyes, and she chuckled softly as Jake relayed what had happened out on the field. "So, just another typical Cabot family get-together, then," she surmised as she quickly triaged Elliot, Abbie, and Olivia.

"Pretty much," Alex muttered from her position beside Olivia.

Doctor Sims nodded and smiled. "Well, then. Since I know you guys are celebrating this weekend – and, congratulations, by the way," she added, looking at Olivia and Alex, "let's get these three patched up and back to the party."

"Perfect. Thank you," Jake said, as the orthopedist waved a trio of residents over to them.

Sims cleared her throat as the group approached. "I want x-rays on all three patients. Start with Mr. Stabler, because I'm pretty sure it's just an acute anterior dislocation and the sooner I can reset it, the sooner he'll start feeling better. Then do Ms. Carmichael. I want films of the hand, wrist, forearm, and elbow, just to be safe. Save Ms. Benson for last, as she is in the least amount of distress. Shoot them through as quickly as you can and bring them back here with their films. We'll move forward from there once we know what we're dealing with."

The residents jumped into motion quickly – Doctor Sims was a demanding attending who expected perfection from each of the residents assigned to her – and Christina grinned at Jake as she followed them out the door. "I'd like to see your residents respond that quickly."

"Mine do," Jake retorted grinning. "I get the brains, remember? You gotta be a fucking God to do Cardio. You just get the brawn."

"Fuck you, Bernhardt," Sims chuckled. She smiled at Alex and Serena and added, "We should have those films back shortly and then we can get everybody patched up. Just sit tight. I'll whip my residents through this call like their lives depend on it."

"I like her," Alex said as she leaned back in her chair. She winced as her injured cheek protested the pressure she put on it and groaned when she noticed that Jake saw it. "No."

"It might need stitches," Jake said. "Do you want me to look, or would you rather I get somebody else in here?"

"I am not flashing my ass at you, Jake Robert Bernhardt."

"Somebody else it is, then," Jake said, grinning as he disappeared out into the hall to see if his buddy Mitchell Jones, a plastic surgeon, was around to take care of Alex.

Two hours later, everybody was a good as they were going to get for a while. Alex had six new stitches in her behind, Elliot's shoulder had been reset and he was kitted out with a new sling to immobilize the joint, and Abbie was in a half-cast for her broken wrist as well as her radius that also ended up to have a hairline fracture. Olivia had a second degree sprain and was put in an air cast for support with her foot wrapped in an Ace bandage until the initial swelling went down, and was sporting a shiny new pair of crutches.

As Dr. Sims finished signing the release paperwork for her three latest patients, Jake looked at Alex and asked, "Can we break the rules just this once and take a picture of this?"

"Sure," Alex chuckled, nodding. While she appreciated the 'no visual evidence' rule, this was certainly an exception that needed to be captured on film.

"Hey, Chris, can you take a picture for us?"

Sims scribbled her name on the bottom of the final chart and handed it off to a resident who was standing nearby. "Sure thing, Jake. What do you have in mind?"

Five minutes later, they were assembled in the ambulance bay of Boston General, a messy, paint-splattered, battered bunch, and they all laughingly smiled for the camera as Christina Sims took their picture.

"That is so going up at the wedding," Jill announced as she looked at her brother's phone. "And I want a copy of that."

"Me too," Serena said as she glanced at the picture.

"I'll send it to everybody," Jake said as he slipped his phone back into his pocket. "So, Carmichael, what's next?"

Abbie shrugged and looked at Serena's watch. It was just after seven o'clock. "There's no way we're going to get cleaned up in time to make our reservation, so let's go back to Adam's place, get everybody cleaned up, and then we can figure out what we're going to do for dinner before we gotta head out again."

 

CHAPTER 24

By the time they got back to Adam's house and everybody had showered, changed, and eaten dinner, it was well after ten o'clock. The group had disbursed to different areas of the house/yard with their pizza not long after it had been delivered, and nobody was looking like they were too keen on the idea of going out again. The triplets, Bryan, and Bryn were in the backyard with their better halves sitting around the bonfire that they'd rebuilt in the same spot as their one from the night before, just drinking beer and chatting. Serena was cuddled up with Abbie on the couch in the family room as the Texan slept off her painkillers, watching A League of Their Own with Andy and Mike; while Alex, Olivia, Elliot, Paul, and Adam drifted off to the den to watch the Red Sox battle the Yankees on another television.

The game went to commercial and Adam looked over at his sister and smiled. Alex was lying on her stomach with her head in Olivia's lap and the brunette was combing her fingers combing through her hair as she sat with her foot elevated on a stack of pillows. They each had a small smile on their face and they looked utterly content to just be there, on a couch in his den, simply because they were together.

Paul yawned loudly and stretched, breaking the peaceful air of silence that had befallen the group, and Adam laughed as Alex and Olivia reflexively yawned as well. "You know what? We're fucking old."

"Ya think?" Alex asked, chuckling as she picked her head up enough to look at him. She crossed her arms on Olivia's lap and laid her chin on them so that she could talk to her brother without straining her neck. "Do you think Abbie's going to be pissed that we're all just hanging out here instead of going out to that drag show like she'd planned?"

"I don't think she's gonna wake up until tomorrow, honestly," Paul said as he leaned forward to set his empty coke can down on the coffee table beside Olivia's stack of pillows.

Elliot grinned. "We can always lie and say that we tried to wake her ass up to go down to the club but that she wouldn't wake up. Serena would back us up on that. Last I saw, she was kind of dozing too in there."

Alex nodded. "That could definitely work," she said, smiling. Really, after the night before and the excitement of that afternoon, it was nice to just hang out and relax. This, time with her friends and family, was what she wanted more than a wild last hurrah, anyways.

"So, you guys ready for the wedding?" Adam asked.

"I think so," Olivia said, looking down at Alex for confirmation and she smiled at the small nod the blonde gave her. "Yeah. Just… ready to get on with it."

"Exactly," Alex said, yawning. "You guys are going to be there the night before for the rehearsal, right?"

"Of course," Paul answered, smiling. "What time to you expect to be arriving at Maggie's house that day?"

Alex shrugged and snuggled closer to Olivia. "I'm not sure, yet," she said, yawning. "We have the two days before that off, as well as the following week for the honeymoon, so I'm thinking we'll just play it by ear. It's supposed to start at like, six, I think."

"That's what mom told me," Adam said.

Alex yawned again and Elliot groaned as he mirrored the action. "Damn it, Cabot. Stop!"

Olivia smiled and looked down at Alex. "You want to just go to bed? I know your mom and everybody are going to be here first thing tomorrow with the kids for brunch."

"Take the guestroom upstairs again," Adam said, tilting his head at the back staircase. "Liv's not going to go anywhere on the sand with those crutches."

Alex smiled at her brother as she sat up and stretched, lifting her arms up over her head and mewling softly at the pleasant pull she felt in her shoulders and lower back. "Perfect. Thanks."

"I should probably turn in too. Where should I sleep?" Elliot asked.

"Take the guest room at the other end of the hall from Alex and Liv," Adam said. "I'll carry your bag up for you and show you where it is."

"I should go grab some of our stuff too," Alex said as she got to her feet. She held her hands out to Olivia and smiled as she pulled the brunette up off the sofa. "I'll meet you up there?"

Olivia nodded and reached for her crutches that Alex held out for her. "Thanks."

"My pleasure," Alex murmured.

"Come on you two invalids," Adam said. "Elliot, where did you leave your stuff?"

"Living room," Elliot said. "But I can carry it."

"Yeah, but so can I," Adam retorted smiling. "If I have to go up there with you anyways to show you where the room is, I can at least carry your stuff for you. Now, let's go."

Elliot grinned. This, he was familiar with. Taking orders from a Cabot was second nature to him by now. "Yessir."

"Damn, you trained this one up good, sis!" Adam said, laughing.

"It took a while, but he eventually learned," Alex replied with a chuckle as she reached out and gave Olivia's arm a gentle squeeze. "I'll be up in a minute, okay?"

Olivia nodded. "See you there."

The full moon reflected brightly off the calm ocean surface as Alex made her way across the beach to the tent that had been supposed to be hers and Olivia's home away from home that weekend, and she smiled as she saw her cousins sitting around the bonfire. She unzipped the flap on the tent and ducked inside, immediately reaching for the small lantern that was set on the floor beside the door and turning it on. It clicked to life and she sighed as she looked at their bags that were half-unpacked from having dug around in them for clothes earlier, and she couldn't help but wonder why they didn't just take them up to the house earlier that morning.

It would have been so much easier than trying to do this now.

"Fancy some help?" Paul's friendly voice called out.

Alex turned to smile thankfully at him. "That would be wonderful, thank you," she said as she dropped to her knees and began stuffing Olivia's clothes back into the detective's suitcase.

"Not a problem," Paul said as he ducked inside the tent. "What do you need me to do?"

"If you could carry Liv's bag, that would be great," Alex said as she zipped the brunette's bag shut.

"I'll carry both your bags, Alex," Paul replied genially. "I meant is there anything I can help with in here?"

Alex shoved the couple shirts she'd pulled out and set on the air mattress earlier when she was looking for her jeans into her suitcase and shook her head. "Not really. We didn't unpack a whole lot."

"Nobody did, I'd imagine," Paul said.

"You probably have a point there," Alex agreed with a smile. She zipped her bag closed and said, "All done."

"Perfect." Paul took hold of the handles on each of the women's bags and carried them out of the tent.

They walked in companionable silence back toward the house, and Alex hurried up the back porch steps to hold open the screen door for Paul before she followed him up the back staircase. All the doors on the second floor where closed and she smiled at the Englishman as she said, "I can take it from here. Thanks."

"My pleasure, darling," Paul replied as he handed the bags over. "See you in the morning."

"See you in the morning," Alex agreed as she started down the hall toward hers and Olivia's room.

She set her bag down on the floor so she could open the door, and she smiled as she walked inside the room to find Olivia sitting on the foot of the bed inspecting her injured ankle. "You were supposed to leave that wrapped."

"Yeah, but I wanted to see how it looked," Olivia replied, looking up at the blonde with an unrepentant smirk.

Alex nodded. "And, how does it look?"

"Swollen," Olivia replied dryly.

"You don't say," Alex retorted, chuckling. "Gee, I wonder why?" she teased as she made her way over to the bed so she could look at the brunette's injured ankle as well. "Damn it, Benson," she muttered as she reached out to run a tender finger over Olivia's bruised and swollen ankle.

"Yeah," Olivia said, sighing as she picked up her air cast and started to put it back on.

Alex took it from her hands and murmured, "Let me."

Olivia sighed and leaned back on her hands as she watched Alex tenderly recast and wrap her ankle, and she smiled at the way the blonde placed a soft, lingering kiss to the top of her foot once she was done. "Come here," she whispered.

"Yes?" Alex hummed, smiling as she pushed herself up from the floor and leaned into the brunette so that she could capture her lips in a slow, sweet kiss.

"Mmm, that."

"You'll get more of that after you're in bed," Alex assured her with a playful wink.

They changed quickly and Alex pulled the duvet and sheets back for Olivia to climb into bed before she turned off the light and slid into the bed beside the brunette. She smiled as she rolled onto her side and leaned over to kiss Olivia softly, lingering in the tender connection for a few moments before she eventually pulled away with a soft sigh. "Goodnight, Liv," Alex whispered as she laid her head down onto the brunette's shoulder.

Olivia pulled the blonde in closer and pressed a lazy kiss to her forehead. "Goodnight, sweetheart."


The next morning began at warp speed as the grandparents arrived at the beach house at a little after nine with eight grandchildren in tow. The kids screamed and hollered as they saw their parents for the first time since Friday afternoon, and then proceeded to ignore them the moment breakfast was finished as they changed into their swimsuits so they could go play on the beach.

Matt and James, the grandfathers, took charge of supervising the kids, so Maggie, Carolyn, and Jenny could sit and visit with the Cousins who were lounging in the backyard and enjoying their last few moments of freedom before having to return to their real lives.

"God, I wish I had that much energy in the morning," Alex muttered, her eyes focused on her nieces and nephews as they ran up and down the beach. She sipped at her third cup of coffee for the morning and sighed. "I can't remember ever having that much energy."

"You used to," Carolyn said, smiling at her daughter. "You used to be worse than that, actually. Six oh eight on the dot, every morning, you would start at mach eight and you didn't stop until you fell asleep at night."

Olivia chuckled. "I can see that."

"Just wait, dear," Carolyn told the detective, "I'm sure your children will be the same."

"That's not good," Olivia muttered.

Alex laughed. "We have time, babe. Don't worry."

Olivia's worried expression shifted to a soft smile as she turned to brush a gentle kiss across Alex's cheek. "Maybe I don't want to wait," she breathed against the blonde's ear. "Maybe I can't wait to have a gaggle of mini-Alex's running around the house."

Adam laughed loudly at the goofy smile Alex was now wearing in response to whatever it was Olivia had whispered in her ear. "Get a room you two. Or, don't, since this is my house. Wait until you get home!"

Alex shot her brother a glare before she turned to look into Olivia's open, earnest eyes. The brunette was kidding but, at the same time, she wasn't. "God, do I love you," she breathed.

The group, as one, rolled their eyes at the mushy romantic display Alex and Olivia were putting on and Maggie cleared her throat loudly to draw attention away from the couple. "So, now that all the impressionable ears are out of hearing distance, what the fuck happened to you all yesterday?"

"Abbie started it," Olivia said quickly.

"Shut up, Benson," Abbie retorted. "I did not."

"Andy?" Carolyn asked, knowing that her eldest would shed some light on the situation.

"Paintball," Andy said by way of explanation.

"Okay, that makes perfect sense, then," Jenny said, laughing. "Who won?"

"Lindsay did," Jill said, shooting a proud smile at her girlfriend.

"And then Jill did. All night long, by the sounds of it," Jake added.

Jill blushed and picked up a Frisbee and threw it at her brother. "Shut up."

Carolyn laughed and shook her head as she turned her attention back to her daughter. "What time are you guys heading out?"

"I dunno," Alex said, shrugging as she glanced at Olivia who gave her a 'whenever you want' look.

"And how are you getting back with your arm in a sling?" Jenny asked Elliot.

"It's my left arm, so I'll be okay," Elliot said. He frowned and added, "I'm more concerned about what Cragen is going to say when Liv and I show up tomorrow with doctor's notes limiting us both to desk duty."

"Oh god," Olivia groaned. She actually hadn't even thought of that. "He's going to flip."

Alex chuckled darkly. "If I were you, I'd be more concerned about how Fin and Munch are going to react," she said, arching a brow knowingly. "They're going to have to pick up the slack in the field while you two are out."

"We better show up with donuts and some of that good coffee from the place across the street," Olivia told her partner, who nodded his agreement.

"That's probably a good idea," Elliot said, sighing as he pushed himself to his feet. "I should probably get rolling. Kathy was pretty worried last night when I called and told her what happened."

"You're sure you'll be okay to drive?" Alex asked.

"I'll be fine, Cabot," Elliot assured her. "I'm only on Tylenol, so it won't be a problem. Thanks for having me up this weekend," he told Adam.

"My pleasure. Thanks for coming," Adam said, grinning as he shook the detective's hand.

Alex nodded her agreement with her brother's sentiment as she pushed herself out of her chair and pulled the burly ex-marine into a light embrace, mindful of his injured shoulder. "Thank you for coming, El," she whispered. "I know Olivia really appreciated that you made the effort to come."

"I wouldn't have missed it for the world," Elliot assured her. "Take care of her."

"Always," Alex agreed, tucking her hair behind her ears as she backed away.

"I'll catch ya tomorrow, Liv," Elliot said as he leaned in and gave Olivia a quick hug goodbye.

"Drive safe, Stabler," Abbie said, holding out her good hand to give him a high five.

After he was done saying goodbye to everybody, Elliot followed Adam into the house and the group turned back to one another as the screen door slammed shut behind them.

"So… how are you going to manage with your injury?" Maggie asked Abbie.

"I'm a lefty, so I'll be fine," Abbie said with a shrug. "Serena drove us up here and I took a cab to the airport when I flew up to New York, so I won't have any problems."

"She definitely didn't have any problems last night," Jake piped up, waggling his brows suggestively.

Abbie let out a boisterous laugh as she turned to look at him. "You're so full of shit, Jake. I was passed out on the couch all night and we missed the drag show we were going to go to. Serena had to drag my half-asleep ass out to bed and I fell asleep with my jeans still on."

Jake just laughed and held his hands up in a 'can't blame me for trying' gesture.

Maggie rolled her eyes at her son's trouble-making antics. "You need to try harder than that, Jakey. I thought I taught you better."

"Sorry mom," Jake mumbled.

"Anyways," Maggie said, changing the subject, "in four weeks you two will be married. Are you ready?" she asked, looking at Alex and Olivia.

"Very ready," Alex answered, reaching for Olivia's hand. "The rehearsal is at six?" she asked her mom.

Carolyn nodded. "Yes. But you'll be there before then, right?"

"We were planning on it," Alex said. "I think we can check into our hotel at four?" She looked at Olivia for confirmation and the brunette nodded. "Yeah. So, we can check in and then come on out."

"And you're sure you want to spend the night before your wedding together?" Carolyn asked, frowning. "It's against tradition, you know."

"We'll be separated the day of the wedding," Alex said, rolling her eyes. She had had this particular argument with her mother more times than she could count over the last few months. "It's not like we don't sleep together every night now."

"I think it's a neat way to go at it," Jill spoke up. "I mean, they'll still surprise each other with what they look like at the wedding, but this way they can spend a little bit of time alone together before the chaos of their wedding descends upon them."

The rest of the cousins nodded their agreement and Maggie laughed as she looked at her sister-in-law. "I think we're just from a different generation here, Carolyn."

"Apparently so," Alex's mother agreed, rolling her eyes.

Alex shook her head and glanced at her watch. It was nearing noon, and they still had a five-hour drive ahead of them. "You 'bout ready to go?" she asked Olivia.

Olivia nodded. "Sure."

They said their goodbyes and, as they were driving down the driveway to the main road, Alex reached over and took Olivia's hand into her own. "Did you have a good time this weekend?"

"Of course," Olivia replied, lifting their joined hands to her lips so she could press a sweet kiss to the backs of the blonde's knuckles. "I was with you, so it was perfect."

"Sweet talker," Alex muttered, but Olivia knew that the blonde liked it by the way her cheeks flushed ever so slightly with a light blush. She glanced at the clock in the dash and licked her lips thoughtfully. "Would you mind if we made a quick stop in Boston before we headed home?"

Olivia shook her head. "Nope. What do you want to do?"

Alex smiled sadly and gave Olivia's hand a gentle squeeze. "I would like to visit my dad."


The cemetery was otherwise empty as Alex pulled to a stop at the bottom of a small hill. She licked her lips and took a slow, deep breath as she turned to look at Olivia. "Do you want to come?"

"If you want me to," Olivia answered softly.

Alex nodded. "I would like to introduce you to him." She looked out Olivia's window at the hill they would have to climb to get to her family's plot and sighed. "Do you think you'll be able to make it up there okay?"

Olivia smiled. "Of course. It's not that steep. Let's go."

They made their way slowly up the hill, Alex following a step behind Olivia with her fingertips resting lightly on the small of the brunette's back in case she slipped, and once they reached the top, Alex pointed to a rather large mausoleum. "He's there," she said.

Rather than responding with words, because, really, none were needed, Olivia simply nodded and started toward the monument. The brunette hung back as Alex approached the building her father was interred in and she bit the inside of her cheek as she watched Alex reach out to run her fingers over the engraved block that read:

Alexander Andrew Cabot
Beloved Husband and Father
Oct. 12, 1946 - May 20, 1997

"Hi, dad," Alex said softly as she trailed her fingertips over the numbers marking the date her father passed. "Sorry I haven't visited in so long, life has just been…" She shook her head. "I should have made time to come up here and I'm sorry. I've met a great girl since the last time I was here – which isn't exactly true because I knew her then, too. Remember me telling you about that beautiful detective who I worked with? Olivia? Yeah…"

Her voice trailed off as she began tracing the first four letters of her father's name over and over again as tears began to sting at the backs of her eyes. "I'm going to marry her." She laughed softly and shook her head. "Can you believe it? All those times you told me that I just hadn't met the right girl yet and I'd laughed at you… You were right, dad. You were so right. She's… god, she's everything to me and I wish you were here to meet her. You would love her as much as I do, I'm sure."

She grew quiet as the tears that had been threatening spilled over and she allowed herself to voice the one thing she'd thought of more often than anything else during the wedding planning. "I wish… I wish you were here to walk me down the aisle when I marry her."

She looked back at Olivia, who was watching her with a soft adoring smile from a distance and swallowed thickly as she wiped at the tears on her cheeks. She smiled at the concerned look Olivia was giving her and beckoned the brunette over. When Olivia was close enough for her to touch, she wrapped her hand around the brunette's arm and turned back to her father's headstone. "Dad. This is Olivia. Olivia, this is my dad."

Olivia smiled and squeezed Alex's hand that was wrapped lightly around her arm. "Sir," she said softly, nodding respectfully at the marker because it seemed rude to not acknowledge his presence – even if it wasn't corporeal. Alex sniffled beside her and she turned to press a soft kiss to the blonde's forehead. "Are you okay, baby?"

Alex nodded. "Yeah. I just miss him."

"I'm sure you do, sweetie," Olivia murmured, pressing another gentle, comforting kiss to Alex's brow. She took a deep breath and turned her attention back to the marker with Alex's father's name on it. She shifted the crutch on her right side to her left hand and reached out to touch the stone.

You raised an amazing girl, Mr. Cabot, she said silently, and I know you would be proud of the woman she grew up to be. I love Alex more than life itself and I swear to you that, until my last breath, I will do everything in my power to make her feel safe, loved, cherished, and adored.

Alex watched Olivia stare silently at her father's marker and smiled sadly as she leaned her head on the brunette's shoulder. "I'm glad you finally got to meet him," she whispered.

"Me too, sweetheart," Olivia whispered, pressing her palm flat against the stone. She sighed as she dropped her hand to her side and spun on her good leg to pull Alex into her arms. Her crutches clattered softly together as they landed on the grass, and she hummed under her breath as she cradled Alex's head to her shoulder. "I love you."

Alex wrapped her arms around Olivia's neck and sighed as she sank into her fiancée's embrace. "I love you too, Liv."

Part 25

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